Co2 Bottles What Thread

[Dave Spencer]

Just to add my pennies worth, I would go for the glass ceramic type of diffuser. They are much smaller, making them far less obtrusive.

Possibly more importantly, they are considered the most efficient form of supplying CO2 to your plants, provided your filter outlet blows the micro bubbles around the tank. This is because actual bubbles of CO2 gas will come in direct contact with the plant leaves, which is the preferred method of uptake, as opposed to CO2 in solution.

My first CO2 set up used a JBL spiral, but for the same amount of gas, I got far more pearling when I switched over to a ceramic diffuser. One other thing to consider is that once you make the CO2 non limiting, you may have to reconsider dosing macros (N,P,K) and trace elements. With the right kind of light levels, adding CO2 can increase growth rates by a factor of ten, making your plants rapidly deficient in other nutrients.

Having said that, if your lighting isn`t particularly high, then naturally occuring nutrients may well be sufficient. Adding CO2 is beneficial to the planted tank in just about every case, except possibly very low lighting around 1WPG.

Dave.

 

[ShoC]

thats interesting Dave.
Do you think a diffuser is more effective than a reactor?
Currently I'm just shoving my Co2 pipe into my cannister inlet.
I crossed a Diffuser out of my mind before reading.

 

[Dave Spencer]

The diffuser diffusing directly in to the water and being blown around is the most efficient method in terms of plant growth, according to many, and my own experiences agree with that. It`s not necessarily the most efficient in terms of CO2 dissolved, though. My inline reactor must be close to 100% in terms of dissolving the added CO2, but it doesn`t present the CO2 to the plants in their preferred form (gaseous).

The problem for me is that I don`t like the look of the micro bubbles being blown around, so I use an inline reactor in one tank, and a ceramic diffuser diffusing in to the the filter inlet on another tank. You may want to be careful if you are injecting the CO2 straight in to your cannister, without diffusing it first, ShoC. The bubble may be reaching the impeller before it is dissolved, causing cavitation.

Having said that, if you have been doing it for a while without any problems, you should be OK. I suspect the filter media helps to break it up, anyway.

I have a little 24l that has the bubbles just blowing around, but that is just about the only method I could use on this tank.

Dave.

 

[colin1325]

wooooooo god too much info im only a forst year student do you mean i possibly may need to buy say aqua plant food to keep enough food in tank for the plants PRO-aqua-PLANT FOOD ( 1 BAG LASTS UP TO 3 MONTHS)

 

[Dave Spencer]

Hi Colin,

When you increase light levels, or add CO2 to your tank, you are effectively adding a bigger, more powerful engine to your car. This is well and fine, but there comes a point when the engine rating requires more powerful brakes and an uprated suspension.

I am assuming you are adding CO2 for increased plant growth, so you need to consider what else may need upgrading to go with the increased growth. Your light levels are a major factor, so provided they are not too high, you may well get away with keeping things simple and not needing to add any ferts directly to your tank.

Have a read of some of the pinned topics in the planted section to find what plant requirements are, along with what adding extra light and CO2 may imply. It is too easy to get caught up in the high tech side of things, but always bear in mind that a lot of planted tanks run on the bare minimum of ferts etc. very successfully.

Plant requirements in terms of importance are:

Light.
Carbon via CO2.
N,P,K macronutrients.
Micro nutrients.

Light and CO2 are the two big factors that can quickly cause deficiencies in your plants, by driving up growth rates and, therefore, nutrient requirements.

Dave.